The unlikely success of the Chinese film Wolf Warrior II will be a story that China will remember for decades. However, it also may affect the way that Hollywood will approach the Chinese market.
After the first Wolf Warrior (战狼 Zhàn láng) made over $80 million off of a $5 million budget, filmmakers knew that a sequel had to be made. Martial arts star, director, and star of Wolf Warrior, Wu Jing, immediately raised the budget of the second movie to $30 million so that he could recruit Hollywood talent that could raise the production value of Wolf Warrior II. He recruited American actors, American stunt coordinators, and American composers to help make Wolf Warrior II a quality production.
That being said, this movie did not have an easy path to success. The first trailer for the movie was not well received. People thought that the trailer looked too much like an “X-Men” trailer. Another sign that indicated that Wolf Warrior II was going to be a flop, was the fact that it was set to be released on the same weekend as another movie. When Wolf Warrior II was finally released, its first day grosses were disappointing. It made $15 million on its first day, by comparison the seventh Star Wars film ( 星球大战 Xīngqiú dàzhàn) made $119 million on its first day. People were anticipating Wolf Warrior II to be a major flop.
Then there was a massive turnaround for the Chinese film. As good word of mouth spread, box office grosses increased throughout the weekend. The nationalistic plot of Wolf Warrior II, which involves a Chinese special ops soldier saving Chinese hospitals and factories from mercenaries and rebels, helped to stir up patriotic feelings in the Chinese people and motivated them to go see the movie. In its second weekend, Wolf Warrior II’s sales increased by over 20 percent. Wolf Warrior II has since gone on to gross about $800 million. It has become China’s most successful movie ever, and is currently the only non-English language film on the global top 100 films of all time list. Also, since it has grossed the vast majority of its $800 million revenue in one territory only (China), it has become the second highest grossing film in a single territory. Jeff Yip, business development director at a US-Chinese movie production and distribution company known as the H Collective, said “What really worked for ‘Wolf Warrior II’ was combining the best elements of action and international stars in service of something enjoyable to Chinese audiences”.
This movie, also, has serious impacts for Hollywood. After seeing the success of this movie, Hollywood movie studios may consider investing more in Chinese films rather than trying to make their own films a success. They may abandon the prospect of trying to sell their American films in China and may just consider paying for Chinese movies.
Whatever the case may be for the future of the global movie industry, it is clear that Wolf Warrior II has made history, and its legacy will not soon be forgotten.
Sources:
Variety: http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/china-wolf-warrior-ii-1202543266/
Very interesting! I didn’t hear about this movie until my parents started talking about how their friends have all watched it and how meaningful it was. I think it’s important for America to experience different cultures as it’s such a diverse country. Thanks for sharing!